A place to find information and resources concerning mental health

Sorry for keep shamelessly plugging my crowd funder, I’m not very good at promoting myself, and I’m embarrassed that I am asking strangers to donate to me. Especially for something that could very well fail, and because there have been so many people on the internet who have taken advantage of good people as a con artist.

I don’t think I am ever going to get used to asking for money, since I am someone who tries to be as independent as possible, and I am scared that I will get on everybody’s nerves, by keeping putting up the link.

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Hi, I am perfectlyfadeddelusions, I have a blog I have been writing on, on and off for a while now. I am currently living with my parents due to having mental health problems, severe anxiety, agoraphobia, severe depression; and I have had a physical nervous breakdown seven years ago.

I want to made this site for the core reason that I think finding out about mental illnesses, your rights, and contacts can be a very long struggle. All the sites and charities don’t list many places that isn’t theirs, and most of them are not directly near where you live. Another reason is because, I want to help people concerning benefits, help when sanctioned such as foodbanks and other emergency help, as well as providing a connection and place for people to talk about their problems.

Due to my own experience with mental health, knowing how exhausting it can be hunting for information about services, and charities, especially for those who have mental health and their family members. As it can make you feel as though it is a hard time getting the support you need, where you feel you are not ill enough to get the assistance.

I would like to raise some money for a new computer, at the moment I have a very old laptop I am working from, which is 7 years old and very slow and is incapable of doing more than one or two tasks. I would like to use the new computer so I can work from home as a researcher, as well as make website like a hub for resources for mental health problems. In addition to making a safe place where people write about their conditions, get advice, and be in an understanding community.

I also want make handmade cards, draw art and pictures for my handmade cards, make podcasts, and maybe YouTube videos with my friend and guests from YouTube and charities and so on. As well as make videos about the history of mental health and how people with mental illness are treated around the world so we can talk about the topic.

I hope that once my local mental health team has accessed me, I will be able to get a benefit, which will provide some money to pay a support worker to go places with me, so I am able to travel around.

I know it is a lot of money to ask for, and I that I could do this for nothing or very little. On the contrary, this is a long-term project, which I am planning to take further, and move into my own community working in conjunction with those with mental health in the company of love and support.

The money will be used to buy an iMac, printer, and software to use to write scripts, make inserts for cards, and for my research on mental health. And to make animations (though not very), to use in videos to make more fun.

I also plan to sell cards, and other handmade gifts to raise money for my project, as well as for charities. I will sell some cards on EBay, and the money paid will go to different mental health charities, from all different countries, as well as the UK. When selling on Etsy, the money will go straight into projects, and for papers, information, thesis, academic papers behind pay walls. I would also like to pay the contributors back, as I feel this would be an appropriate thing to do, because I want to be as transparent and thankful as possible.

Eventually if this project is successful, I am hoping to use the money I get from cards, and other will be used to rent a place in my area, where people can come and talk, make friends, and find useful support in finding employment. To expand the help on the website, have and training staff in the local job centre or employment agencies as to how to communicate with people with mental health. Be a representative for clients, communicating with other charities in research and making sure people with mental health problems are able to live their lives as best as they can.

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The term Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) was first coined by Adolf Stern in 1938, to describe what he percieved to be patients who were suffering from a mild form of Schizophrenia and thus were seen to be on the borderline between neurosis and psychosis. In the 1960s and 70s these ideas changed, now rather than being seen as Borderline Schizophrenia, it was instead viewed as a mood disorder, having similarities to Bipolar Affective Disorder and Cyclthymia with its variability, volatility and intensity of moods. Finally with the introduction of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in 1980, it was labelled as a personality disorder and given its current name. It is now one of ten personality disorders that exist, though BPD by far being the most heavily diagnosed in today’s modern society.

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This is the third part, which I would like to start by talking about resources, workbooks, and worksheets.

I will be providing links to websites that provide worksheets and workbooks, as well as direct links to the relevant worksheets that are utilized in groups. As well as providing worksheets and books from my own sessions in groups and therapy, where the therapists have agreed I can share their information.

The Emotional Wellbeing Group I have been attending, the therapists involved have given me permission to share these, and to be able to reword their worksheets as well. I have made some worksheets for myself, as I felt these would help me and made it easier for me to do the homework on some weeks. I think it would be nice for anyone to change the worksheets for their own needs in any way they like, and share them on their blogs, or have them displayed on The Hub for other people to use.

At the same time, I have some email addresses of therapists who have allowed me to contact them for help with The Mental Health Resource Hub, because they think it is a thoroughly beneficial idea for me to do for other people too. My support worker calls me a contractor, she feels this is a genuinely helpful ambition, and suggested that I should share my mental health story for people, as well as in NHS Conferences.

This means that I can take this to the NHS Trusts themselves and show them how this is going to work, and how it will help educate the public, people with mental health problems, and most of all help with the stigma of mental health.

The conferences will be a good place to network with professionals, and get more psychologists and psychiatrists to come onto the project, as well as come onto livestreams to talk about what they do, and answer questions like Katie Morton.

An opportunity for local council members, MPs, Job Centre staff to discuss relevant information on via livestream could be good too; I hope to do the same with people in those sectors in other countries.

Just as I would at the community hub, people would also be able to share their experiences, and provide information about how they were able to get certain things to make life a bit easier and more manageable.

I will be trying to do an undergraduate in Psychology with the Open University, and do some of their free courses as well in certain sections of psychology and health. This way I can be more help to people, but also it might help me with speaking to psychologists and other mental health professionals.

The plan is to contact other charities, psychology experts, and people whom I have thought to ask for information about start The Hub, YouTube, and selling handmade gifts online.

The I hope will happen is that this will help with more networking and providing me with some help, as well as being some kind of support system that I can contact when I need to.

Another thing that I am looking into is the NEA known as the (New Enterprise Allowance), which I am unsure, will be around since Brexit and leaving the EU. As well as the Access to Work grant, as I may need to in getting out, and need that extra support with motivation on bad days, and other things. Again I am unsure whether this will be around by the time I want to start The Hub, nor am I sure that they will award me with these, since I am on ESA WRAG and doing this as a business would seem viable to the government and DWP, another issue is that I am afraid of asking.

Then there is the fact I will probably be working from my own bedroom mostly, and how do I actually know that this is going to make enough money to keep it running. That worries the life out of me, I mean; I do not wish to make thousands, which was never the intention I wanted. I just want to be able to cover things, such as materials for cards and gifts, the ink for the printer, and being able to the rent and bills when I am able to get a place for The Hub and the activities I want to provide.

There is also the charity route, which I am going to try to get the courage to go to my local Voluntary Action Group, and have a talk to one of the advisors there. Where there are grants and funds, but there is also the selling stuff part that has me confused.

Is there a way to do my project without the consequences jeopardizing the help I want give for people, and keeps The Mental Health Resource Hub running?

I know there are some projects in my area that are community based, and sell to local businesses their products.

Sorry for the long and arduous rumblings, I know these posts probably seem very boring to you by now.

Thank you for reading, if you would like to donate (no pressure at all): http://goget.fund/1VwETTO

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This is a continuation of yesterday’s blog, where I was talking about my Mental Health Resource Hub, and how it will be working in the community in the draft stages. I would like to add to this, as I have many more ideas in my mind for helping people in the community, as well as describe the other parts of The Mental Health Resource Hub Network.

With the whole community involved, this should help with the stigma on people with mental health problems, as they will be able to demonstrate how they are just regular people too.

The website will be full of information, resources, and helpline numbers for people with mental health problems. This will include news on mental health, technology and mental health, and medicine and mental health where I will also be doing the same on the YouTube Channel. This is where I will be talking about the history of psychology, history of Mental illness, treatments, medications, book reviews, etc.

At the same time, I would like to empower people to find the help they need but also to encourage people who would like to help others too, to start their own hub. I will also be providing local information, legal, medical, charities, and governmental information to benefit from becoming a hub though never in a forceful way.

Meaning more people will understand mental health problems, more advocating, and more pressure on the government as they would see the results and see that these projects need more money.

As I said before in part one, I do not know if this will actually work. However, there is no harm in trying projects to help people in your community with mental health problems.

There is also the chance to raise money for charities, and local charities with events taking place in the local community, where people with mental health problems can get involved. Whether that will be by art, or cooking, or anything creative, it would be good to have the community stand together to help one another and charities.

With the online part of my Mental Health Resource Hub, I plan to do monthly streams to raise money for mental health charities, as well as try to do things for local charities as well. Though the logistics of that are not very clear at this very moment, I will be making cards and gifts to sell for charities, as well as a way to raise money for The Mental Health Resource Hub.

Sorry this is short, I cannot think of anymore to write in this part, however when I do I will be posting a part 3.

Once I have edited these into a main document, I hope to post the whole document into a blog post.

I hope this is not too confusing or boring, I am hoping this is going to go towards a business plan, so I can make the Mental health hub happen.

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I’ve been thinking about for a while, especially when I was at Maximus under the ESA WRAG programme the government and DWP felt I was capable of work. I have also seen how stretched the Mental Health Trust in my area is, and how long people have had to wait for therapy services, add to that the amounts of cuts the government has made to the services as well.

My idea is to have all the charities, businesses, and departments work together so that people with mental health problems could get help, but also bring more to NHS Trusts. I know this is something you are working on at the moment, and it is great to see that local places in the area are trying to help. Therefore a lot more people could get help during waiting for treatment from local community centres, and community therapies. As well as having other service users, help other service users, or peer to peer, which would be good for people who find it hard to go outside to make a friend and go to places. Key workers and social workers could pop into these places to have a chat about what is going on, and keep an eye.

People with mental health problems do not like to go outside, maybe have to live off food banks because of benefits being sanctioned, and are deeply depressed. This could be applicable for some elderly people who live alone, do not have family, or their family live far away from them and have mental health problems, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.

To me this would take a lot of pressure off NHS Trusts, who already find it hard to fund therapies and new therapists for their communities, which sometimes are linked with more than one.

The DWP could be involved, and should be connected with charities like Shaw Trust, Remploy, and others in the community. There should be more contact between the DWP and Mental Health Trusts and GP’s, where there is more contact between the concerning benefits, especially those on WRAG and JSA. The Jobcentre is very good at pressuring and treating people with mental health problems terribly and it would be nice if these people were treated better by the staff of the DWP.

I don’t know if this would be possible, but starting slowly might be the key to start and see what does happen with this idea, and the fact it needs to be talked through with the relevant people and organisations to see what they think.

It would also be helpful to consult clients on this, to see how they feel about this prospect. Whether they feel it would be too much, or far too little, and if this will need funding, or if clients will need to pay a small fee for these services.

This would also be good in keeping people well, benefiting the patients and helping the Mental Health Trusts with their waiting times, the same with GP’s, although there should be more check-ups on people. While people with severe mental health problems get the help they need quicker, and would benefit from the community centres too.

The Mental Health Resource Hub would be a nice place to add to this, I plan on providing a space where people can meet people, classes for those who want to learn new things. Whereby they can learn about their mental health problems, get help looking for a job, have crafting and art, provide trips to the supermarket, have professionals come in and talk about mental health, psychology so people can ask understand. Leading to having doctors and nurses come to do check-ups on people who are scared of going to the doctors, haircuts, massages, and ways for people to look after themselves. People will get used to the people and are more likely to go spend time there and look after themselves, or go to places that they would not usually spend time going. People will recommend going, and businesses and charities will get more trade and people using their services in the community.

I would also like to provide food for people, especially those who are not getting the money they need from their benefits, or are on a low wage, so at least they can have a good meal. Have coffee mornings, take people to the movies on quiet days, have movie nights at the Hub, take clients on trips, and maybe have a comfort animal come in to give people comfort and to also let clients come on walks with me and other staff members.

With the job recruitment part, I would like to be an advisor, or at least have advisors to help people with mental health problems find the job that will fulfil them, as well as be flexible and understand mental health problems. There needs to be more training for local businesses and employers to understand mental health problems, and be more willing to be flexible and understanding.

I know Shaw Trust do something like this, but when I had it, nothing happened and I was just left to fend for myself. This would be a great opportunity to ask people what they would think of these subjects and to contribute their ideas, ideally in a place where they do not feel pressured or influenced by other people.

There should be more information provided about people with mental health problems setting up their own businesses, what support they will get from different sources. It would be great for people with mental health problems to have the freedom to work for themselves and be supported as much as they need or want to be. But also be there for other people when they first start on the road to self-employment, acting like mentors and such, and can bring to the hub to talk to groups or individuals.

Another sector which might be good to bring into talk is local council members and our local MP, where they can explain their jobs and departments, as well as troubleshoot problems in private for people who are unable to talk on the phone, or go to the council themselves. Either this could be a weekly thing, or a monthly thing, but at least people would have more of an understanding of what goes on at the councils departments, and feel assured they will get problems dealt with. The Jobcentre, Citizens Advice, and other places could do this with people, it would give people reason to feel confidence in going, and the willpower to get problems dealt with.

I would like to try and help people write letters to people such as landlords, DWP, etc. As well as providing help filling in forms, such as job applications, and application forms for benefits.

Otherwise ask a Key Worker to try and help.

As there are some people need more help, and knowing they will be understood and served in a respectful manner will help people with mental health problems know they will be in safe hands, and encourage them to go to the offices themselves, giving them confidence and some kind of independence. This would be particularly good for people with severe mental health problems, severe anxiety, and severe depression to work to go to important places and get their needs taken care of.

There is also the opportunity to work with people using CBT Techniques to use for everyday real life things, rather than just in a classroom, to change some things, and make a start to be independent. As well as other psychological techniques that could be used to help people with their daily living.

I don’t know if this is going to work, or if this is a good idea, it is just something that has been going through my mind for a very long time. This is also a work in progress, so I will be adding to this from time to time too, because this is just a draft.

Please let me know what you think, and feel free to comment and add points, or ask me to change parts, I am very open to ideas.

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Time to Change, will kick-off a five year campaign to encourage men to be in their mate’s corner and be more open and supportive of the 1 in 4 of us fighting a mental health problem in any given year. [1]

This is a great idea, men have trouble with mental health problems, but are always afraid to get help they need. They have a hard time opening up to people, especially if it is in a clinical or situation where they will be ridiculed for their thoughts and feelings.

I hope this goes well for men, and more men speak up in their own way. We need to make men’s mental health a priority, and help them to find their way to open up, apart from talking therapies, as well as practical ways.

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Welcome to this guide exploring why it can be hard to open up about mental health problems. Click on the play button above to see why we’re talking about this.

When people say mental health, they are talking about how people think and feel, and how they are coping with things happening in their life. It’s completely normal to feel sad, angry or worried from time to time. But when those feelings won’t go away and they start to really affect day-to-day life, that is when there can be a problem.

Many people with a mental health problem find it hard to talk about it. This guide looks at why that is and what you can do if you feel this is something that is affecting you.